Agenda item

Revenue and Capital Budget Monitoring for 2013-14 - Quarter 2

Minutes:

– reportof theDeputy Leaderand CabinetMember forFinanceand Procurement and AndyWood,CorporateDirectorfor Financeand Procurement)

 

Cabinetreceived areportproviding thesecondfullfinancialmonitoringreport ofthe

2013 -14 financialyear.  Mr  Simmonds  introduced  the  report  to  cabinet  and  in particular  referred  to  the  following  details  contained  within  it,  pertaining  to  the revenuebudget:

 

•        Thatthereport waspositive andthe Councilremainedon targettodeliver an underspend.

•        An   underspend   of   £5.179million   was   currently   reported   before   any managementactionhadbeentaken,which would bereducedto £2.647million bythe rephasingofprojects/programmesincludingSocial Fundmoniesand Kent YouthEmployment.  Following scheduledmanagementactionit was expectedthat the underspendwould increaseto £4.049million

•        Sincethelastreport,the increasein theunderspendbeforemanagement action  and  roll  forward  requirements  could  be  largely  attributed  to  three factors,therephasingof theKentYouthEmploymentProgramme, an underspendrelatedto wastemanagementand savingsin thecustomerand communitiesportfolio.  Thishad beenoffsetby increased pressureonthe propertybudget and ashortfallin theEducationalservice grantrelating to schoolsconvertingto academies.

•        That£4.506million grantfundingreceived fromcentralgovernmentatthe beginning of theyear had beenhelpfulin achieving thesatisfactory6 month position.

•        The Children’sServices budget continued to experience   considerable pressure,andcurrentlyshowedan overspendof£3.916millionwhich itwas hopedwould bereducedby management actiontakenin relationto recruitment, amongstotherthings.   Asylumseekingchildren who had exhausted allrights of appealcontinuedtocreate financialpressurefor the portfolioandalthoughinvoices totalling £3.8milioncontinuedtobe sentto UKBAin an attemptto recovercosts, thefuturereceipt ofall moniesowed was not certain.

•        A£1.567munderspendwas reportedwithin themainstreamhometo school transportbudget and £3mwithin thewaste budgetas aresultoflower than budgetedwaste tonnage.  Thiswas offsetby otherpressureswithin the waste service , leavinga £1.3millionoverall surpluson thewaste budgets.

•        Overallthe positionwas satisfactoryand itwas crucialthat thegoodwork continued.

 

In relation to the CapitalBudget hereportedthat:

 

•        Theworking budgetwas currentlyreported as£320.3millionbutthe actual spendwas likelyto beapproximately£277.5million,a variationof£42.8million. Themajorityof thisvariation, £35.8millionwas accountedforby rephasing of capitalprojects.

•        Theoverall positionwas satisfactory.

 

AndyWood,CorporateDirector ofFinanceand Procurementwelcomedthereport andalso expressed satisfactionthatpressuresidentifiedwere asmallpercentageof thebudget ofalmostone billion.

 

TheCabinetMemberconcludedby remindingmembersthattherecommendations beforethemcontaineda £1.5millionofvirementthatwould enablefundingofthe initialcosts ofFacing the Challenge,the Council’stransformation programme.

 

TheLeaderreferredtotherise inoutstandingdebt toKCC andsuggested thatthis mightbe consideredin moredepthin thefuture.

 

It was RESOLVED:

 

Cabinet

Revenue and Capital Budget Monitoring for 2013-14 – Quarter 2

14 October 2013

1.

That the latest monitoring position on both the revenue and capital budgets be noted

2.

That a virement of £1.5m from the Modernisation of the Council budget within the Finance & Business Support portfolio to a new budget line "Business Strategy - Facing the Challenge" to be held in the Democracy & Partnerships portfolio (in the pre-election portfolio structure), to fund the initial costs of Facing the Challenge be agreed.

3.

That the changes to the capital programme as detailed in the actions column in table 2 of the annex reports be agreed.

 

4.

That the latest Financial Health Indicators and Prudential Indicators as reported in appendix 1 and appendix 2 respectively be noted

5

That the directorate staffing levels as at the end of September 2013 as provided in section 7 be noted.

REASON

 

1, 4 & 5

In order that the Cabinet conducts its monitoring activities effectively.

 

2.

In order that the ‘facing the challenge’ programme is not delayed by accounting requirements.

3.

In order that the capital budget reflects the actuality of the council’s capital programme.

 

ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS CONSIDERED

None

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

None

DISPENSATIONS GRANTED

None

 

Supporting documents: